I've always loved reading, history, and horses. These things come together in several of my historical books. My young adult novel, Sarah's Long Ride, also spotlights horses and the rugged sport of endurance riding, as does the contemporary romance Trail to Justice. I took a vocational course in horseshoeing after earning a bachelor's degree in history. I don't shoe horses anymore, but the experience has come in handy in writing my books.

Another longtime hobby of mine is genealogy, which has led me down many fascinating paths. I'm proud to be a DAR member! Some of Jim's and my quirkier ancestors have inspired fictional characters

For many years I worked for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel as a freelancer, covering local government, school board meetings, business news, fires, auto accidents, and other local events, including a murder trial. I've also written many profiles and features for the newspaper and its special sections. This experience was a great help in developing fictional characters and writing realistic scenes. I also published nonfiction articles in several magazines and had several short stories appear in Woman's World, Grit, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

My husband, Jim, and I moved to his birth state, Oregon, for a while after we were married, but decided to move back to Maine and be near my family. We're so glad we did. It allowed our six children to grow up feeling close to their cousins and grandparents, and some of Jim's family have even moved to Maine!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Gert Dooley can shoot the tail feathers off a jay at a hundred yards, but she wants Ethan Chapman to see she's more than a crack shot with a firearm. When the sheriff of Fergus, Idaho, is murdered and Ethan is named his replacement, Gert decides she has to do whatever she can to help him protect the citizenry. So she starts the Ladies Shooting Club. But when one of their numbers is murdered, these ladies are called on for more than target shooting and praying. Can Gert and the ladies of Fergus find the murderer before he strikes again?

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I've always enjoyed reading historical novels. As a child I actually imagined living in the mid 1800s. My grandmother fed my imagination by supplying me with hoop skirts and costumes of the age. She also granted me endless hours typing on her electric typewriter. I fell in love with Gone With The Wind and imagined myself writing my own book one day.
I'm currently dabbling with Time Travel. I've renewed an old manuscript by adding the Time Travel element. I was curious to see how it would be received and I'm happy to report my manuscript The Bridge Between is a finalist in the Romance Through The Ages Contest!
The first round judges were kind and generous in their review of the manuscript. It takes time to read pages of someone else's work and give your honest opinion. I appreciate the feedback I received and have considered it as I move forward in completing the revision.
Check back for more updates. And until then, write on!

There's a song that starts out with these words it's been a while. I love the song. It's by a rock band and it's a ballad/rocker song...

Of course the name of the band has completely left my mind at the moment. If anyone knows the band I'm talking about, feel free to supply me the information.

For me, it has been a while since I've written on this blog. It's been about as long since I've written on a manuscript. 2012 proved to be a good year, full of changes and full of challenges for me. I believe it is the combination of these changes that caused me to lose my focus and to slip away from writing.

I miss writing. I have scenes in my head but when I come to the computer, nothing seems right. I keep telling myself that I can't edit a blank page, yet, the page remains blank...

As we go into the new year, I'm optimistic that my old self will return. That I'll rise early and write. That the issues I dealt with in 2012 will dissipate.

Hello, 2016!
I may be about 15 days late in greeting the new year via this blog, but I waited to write as I wanted my first post of the new year to be meaningful.
And today we're celebrating.
About 8 years ago, I returned to my day job after taking a long maternity leave. I'm sure I've written about being a stay at home mom after my daughter was born. While I was glad to have a job to return to, I missed being at home with my child. But I held my head high, blessed to have an income when many others may not. I returned to work and was reunited with many old friends. I also met many new people. Employees come and go with my company as I'm sure they do with yours. We move from office to office and from state to state. Change is the norm. Embrace it, or be miserable. I like to be happy so I embrace.
Sherrie was one of the new people I met. She wasn't new to the company but was one of those folks who was mobile. Sherrie and I worked on the team I rejoined. Working i…